How to Create Customizable Legal or Lined Notes Pages in Affinity Publisher: A Step-by-Step Tutorial

Create digital note templates or print-friendly planner pages. This tutorial will guide you through setting up legal or lined notes pages in Affinity Publisher with customizable line height, margin widths, and colours.

Step 1: Set Up Your Document

To begin, we’ll create a new document in Affinity Publisher:

1. Open Affinity Publisher and create a new document with the following settings:
2. Size: A4
3. Pages: 8 (we'll only use 1 page for now, but we’ll use those additional pages later)
4. Facing Pages: Starting on the right
5. Colour Format: RGB (as this is for digital output)
6. Margins:
   
   • Inner: 10mm
   • Outer: 10mm
   • Top: 20mm
   • Bottom: 0mm
7. Bleed: None (since it’s for digital output)
8. Click Create to start your project.
   

Step 2: Avoid Common Mistakes When Adding Lines

Before diving into the right method, let’s cover two methods not to use when creating your lines.

Option 1: Using the Pen Tool (Not Recommended)

You might be tempted to manually draw lines using the Pen Tool and then duplicate them, but this can lead to inaccuracies. The default Pen Tool mode of Pen Mode means it’s easy to end up with extra lines between your rows.

Option 2: Using the Line Mode with the Pen Tool (Still Not Ideal)

Switching the Pen Tool to Line Mode allows you to create individual lines without automatically connecting them. While this is better than the first method, you would still need to duplicate and distribute the lines manually, which is time-consuming and not the most precise method.

Step 3: The Best Method - Using a Table

The most efficient way to create lined pages is by using a Table. Let’s go ahead and do that:

1. Select the Table Tool and draw out a table with 3 columns and 28 rows. If you need to adjust the exact number of rows and columns, you can either drag or enter the values directly.
2. Position the table at the very top of your page, and stretch it to fill the entire page. Now, the fun part - customizing it!
   

Step 4: Customize the Table for Lined Pages

Now that the table is in place, we need to format it to look like a lined notes page.

1. Adjust Column A and Column C to be 10mm wide. These will act as the left and right margins.
2. Column B (the main column for your notes) should span the rest of the page width (190mm).
3. The first row (header) should be taller than the rest. Set the height of Row 1 to 20mm.
4. For the remaining rows (2-28), evenly distribute the height using the Shift + Drag method to ensure they are all equal.
   

Step 5: Apply Colours and Formatting

Let’s add some colour and formatting to the table for a polished look.

1. Set Global Colours

To ensure consistency, create a Global Colour Palette:

1. Go to the Swatches Panel.
2. Select Add Global Colour and create the following:
3. Lines (for the table borders): #808080
4. Notes Background (for the page background): #F6FF9A
5. Left Margin Colour (red): #FF0000
6. Right Margin Colour (blue): #3EC7D0
   

2. Format the Table Borders

1. Select the entire table, then go to the Table Panel.
2. Remove the default outer border.
3. For the inside borders, select the Lines colour (grey) and set the thickness to 0.5pt.
   

3. Apply Background and Margin Colours

1. Apply the Notes Background colour to the entire table for the background.
2. For the left margin (Column A), apply the Left Margin Colour (red) to the left-hand border.
3. For the right margin (Column C), apply the Right Margin Colour (blue) to the right-hand border.
   

Step 6: Add the Table to a Master Page (Optional)

If you plan to use the lined notes page across multiple pages, it’s best to add the table to a Master Page:

1. Select the table and cut it (Command + X or Control + X).
2. Open the Master Page and paste the table onto the page.
3. Now, any changes you make to the Master Page will apply to all the pages using that Master.
   

Step 7: Customize for Different Needs

You can easily customize the template for various purposes:

1. Change the Background Colour: If you want to use a different colour, simply edit the global background colour, and it will update throughout your document.
2. Adjust Margin Widths: Adjust the margin widths by dragging the columns or manually entering new values.
3. Add More Rows: If you need more writing space, you can either insert additional rows or use the Table Panel to add rows with consistent formatting.
   

Step 8: Fine-Tune the Layout

If you want to adjust the number of rows or change the table size further:

1. Add new rows by right-clicking on the table and selecting Insert Row.
2. If the additional rows aren’t formatted correctly, reapply the formatting manually or through the Table Panel.